


Colors

by macosa



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Glynda and Oz bicker like an old married couple but they deeply care about one another, Glynda is not amused, Ozpin does too, Ruby has Feels about things, Ruby is a cinnamon roll, Teeth rotting cuteness, with a teeny tiny hint of sadness but it's gone once you blink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 11:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21161213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macosa/pseuds/macosa
Summary: That was what that wonderful nature was, for her.It wasn't like those empty, distant drawings on the sheet. It was love, light, family...But she couldn't express all that in a school test. That required cold formality, one she really didn't feel in her heart.But, now that she thought of it, she still had an hour, and Professor Goodwitch did say they could do whatever they wanted with the note sheetShe reached for her handbag, as quietly as possible and took her colored pencils from it.So, she began to color. Everything.





	Colors

**Author's Note:**

> I had a RWBY related dream last night.
> 
> I decided to turn it into a fanfic.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**I**t was exam time, at Beacon Academy, and Ruby Rose was excited and determined to do her best in a written test, just as much as she always did while slaughtering Grimm.

Though, obviously, the latter was more fun.

Professor Goodwitch had positioned each student as far away from the others as she could, and took particular care in putting severe distance between members of the same team.

Yang was waving at Ruby from the first row and then stopped once Professor Goodwitch glared at her.

"Today's exam", she began to explain. "Is about testing your knowledge of plant life inside the Kingdom".

_"YES"_, Ruby screamed internally, because, had she screamed externally she would have been scolded. But hey! This test was gonna be easy!

"As you know", continued Goodwitch. "Plants, herbs, and even mushrooms can be powerful allies to a trained Huntsman or Huntress. Some can be used for their medical properties; others are dangerous poisons that can become a helpful weapon against the Grimm".

And all of that was valid, but also said in a really boring way.

Professor Goodwitch then distributed two sheets of papers to each student in the room, using her Semblance.

"You each have received a question sheet and a note sheet", she explained. "The question sheet is also the one where you'll have to write your answers. This sheet _HAS_ to stay as tidy and clean as possible, and you should take care to write in the most comprehensible hand writing possible. I'm talking to _you_, Mr. Arc".

Jaune gulped so loudly, from behind Ruby, that everyone could hear him. The only reason the classroom didn't erupt in laughter was because Professor Goodwitch was really good at scaring the wits out of every student, even with her presence alone.

"On the other sheet", she continued. "You can find drawings that you can use as a reference for your answers. You can also use this sheet to take any note. Let me be clear again: _this_ is the place where you can scribble to your heart's content, _not_ the question sheet".

Ruby looked at the drawings. They were black-and-white, accurate to the T, portraits of their real life equivalent. Each flower, each leaf, looked exactly like it looked in real life except...

Except completely lifeless.

She thought that was a bit sad.

The woods at home, where she could always find all those specimens, always looked so lively and vibrant...

"You have two hours. You can start now", the Professor announced, and the students all began examining the drawings and scribbling notes.

Not Ruby, though. She left the note sheet pristine. She already knew all the answers.

And so, it took her only an hour to answer all the questions.

Glancing at the rest of the classroom, she could see that Yang had finished already, as well. Of course!

Oh, and Blake too!

Weiss, however, was still writing. Ruby tried her best to encourage her via best friend telepathy, but Weiss never raised her head from her exam.

"If you are already finished", said Goodwitch, noticing the few that were done writing. "You are not allowed to leave the room yet, but use this time to reread what you wrote or study another subject. Or rest. Whatever you do, do it _quietly_".

She put so much emphasis on the word "quietly", the subtext of it was clear: _"I'll punish everyone who's caught talking, no matter how well they did on the exam"_.

Ruby tapped her feet for a bit and reread all her answers.

She couldn't be any surer she answered everything correctly. She knew what those questions wanted by heart.

Memories, faint ones, sweet ones, of her, a child, walking through the woods with Yang or Dad or...

_A white cape. Kind silver eyes looking at her with love. A soft, warm voice._

Ruby, always pointing and asking: "What is this flower called?" or "What does this one do?"

And those voices replying. Answers she could never forget, cherished in her heart and soul.

That was what that wonderful nature was, for her.

It wasn't like those empty, distant drawings on the sheet. It was love, light, family...

But she couldn't express all that in a school test. That required cold formality, one she really didn't feel in her heart.

But, now that she thought of it, she still had an hour, and Professor Goodwitch did say they could do whatever they wanted with the note sheet!

She reached for her handbag, as quietly as possible and took her colored pencils from it.

So, she began to color. _Everything._

Inside the drawings, outside of them. Every single white space was filled.

She added lights and shadows and, in the end, she drew a tiny figure, with a red hood, walking between all that life and embracing all of it.

She laughed, softly, to herself. Her heart was full again.

But, when the second hour had passed and Goodwitch had called them, one by one, to retrieve their works, she stared at Ruby's, and then back at her, and then, oh no.

It was the lowered eyebrow of _I'm-not-mad-I'm-just-disappointed_. Ruby hated that.

"W-what's the problem?" she whimpered.

"So you had _two_ hours to answer the questions as correctly as possible", the Teacher said, sternly. "And you used them to play around?"

Ruby could feel her cheeks becoming red hot.

"No, see, I... I'm sure I answered correctly".

This time, Professor Goodwitch lowered both her eyebrows. That was a bad sign.

"We'll see about that".

She put her papers away with the others and joined both hands, making direct eye contact with Ruby. An eye contact that Ruby couldn't stand, so she looked down, fearing she would have cried, had she continued to look at her teacher.

"Miss Rose, this is a serious school, and we seek to train students who take it just as seriously".

Ruby bit her lower lip hard. She could hear Goodwitch sigh.

A hand was put under her chin, raising her head slowly.

Professor Goodwitch had a kinder expression now.

"Ruby, this isn't a game. I hope you know that. Your own survival depends on it".

"Yes, Professor. I won't forget it".

She was let go and returned to her seat.

***

**S**essions of correcting papers always took place in Headmaster Ozpin's office.

Though Glynda was usually the one to assign marks, he made a point to read what the students had written himself and always offered a piece of his mind to her.

More often that she would have liked, Glynda reluctantly agreed, threatened by having to withstand the man's uncanny ability for soul-destroying puppy eyes, to raise bad marks by a point of two.

Correcting papers with Ozpin was too often a _source of headache_, for Professor Glynda Goodwitch.

Especially because, by herself, she would have finished one or two hours earlier than how much it usually took with Ozpin by her side.

"You haven't touched your chocolate", said Ozpin, taking a sip from his own cup while the one he had offered Glynda laid, cold and untouched, away from the papers on the Headmaster's desk.

"Sir, with all due respect, if this continues for another half an hour, I'm going to need a _different_ kind of drink".

Ozpin made a sound like he was going to say something but he had realized on time that talking back would have meant having to worry about reincarnation sooner that he would have liked.

Was it even Ozpin, the one she was talking to, or was it _"the other"_ Ozpin, the one who lived in his head? The last great king of Vale, apparently. If he still considered himself that man or not.

It did not matter much to her. They both had a certain silliness to them that was similar yet different enough, for a trained eye. Nevertheless, they switched place constantly, liking to play off each other like overgrown twin brats. Therefore, Glynda Goodwitch, for her own sanity, had simply decided to act as if the both of them were one single idiot who liked to transform every correction session in some sort of good cop/bad cop routine, where the bad cop was actually the sensible one and the good cop was the foolish one.

It was easier that way.

"Next", she said, sighing. They had just assigned perfect scores marks to Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee. "Pyrrha Nikos".

Ozpin started reading Miss Nikos's papers after taking another sip. Glynda continued.

"She, like Miss Schnee, finished just in time and yet did perfectly".

"But if you look at her handwriting", Ozpin interjected. "You can see she was in a hurry towards the end. I would even say she was anxious, even though her knowledge was more than sufficient".

Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

"So, I think we should not pressure these children so much. It would be a shame if their mental health suffered from it", said the man who routinely launched new students off a cliff after the indirect threat of death.

Glynda couldn’t really say she didn’t agree with those words, it was more like she could just feel them dripping with teases directed at her specifically and _oh, how she hated that_.

To silence the popping of a vein in her forehead, she assigned the maximum score, 10, to Miss Nikos, signed it, and prayed to the Gods that Ozpin would take that occasion to stay silent for at least 5 seconds.

"Next", she looked at the pile of papers at her side and sighed again.

"Look, I'm just going to handle both exams to you, because the answers are exactly the same, _creepily enough_", she said as Ozpin began to examine Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie's works. "And I swear I placed the two of them at completely opposite sides of the room, and I didn't hear any sign of secret codes being exchanged. They simply share a single mind".

While reading the papers and listening to Glynda at the same time, Ozpin chuckled softly.

"They certainly seem to like food a lot!"

"Right?" Glynda exclaimed, almost laughing herself. "It's madness. The only correct answers are the ones about plants that can be used for cooking. Unbelievable".

And the most unbelievable thing was, Glynda was forced to admit, how she had misjudged the two of them. It seemed like Miss Valkyrie was smarter than she had given her credit for, while Mr. Ren was... the opposite.

Oh, and she had no doubt anymore that they absolutely belonged together.

"You could say", Ozpin began.

Pause.

"They are like two peas in a pod".

And he even had the audacity to start laughing at his own terrible joke, until Glynda shot him a look that could kill a Ursa on the spot.

Ozpin cleared his throat, while Glynda gave them both a 6.

"Who's next?"

Glynda took the next exam off the pile.

"Jaune Arc", she said. "A complete failure".

"He got one question right! That's better than the last time", said Ozpin.

"There's not much difference between a 0 and a 1, on academic level", said Glynda in return.

"Even so, a victory needs celebration, no matter how small".

"If you say so. I wouldn't say this counts as a victory, however".

But then, Ozpin met her eyes with an expression that, if her study of _Ozpinese_ served her correctly, meant _"Please, raise the mark by just one point, pretty please with a cherry on top"_ and she let out yet another sigh as she reluctantly wrote a "1" on Arc's papers, and added "You did better than last time. Glynda Goodwitch".

"There. Are you happy, now?"

And he positively _beamed_ at her, like a child who had just received the best birthday present of his life, and Glynda Goodwitch thanked the Gods that, for all intent and purpose, she was the one effectively running the school and not him.

Finally, they seemed to reach the last exam, the one Glynda dreaded the most, and the one she had put last on purpose.

Ruby's.

Feeling a new wave of indignation, she raised from the chair as she handed the papers to Ozpin, and began to pace around the study, not daring to look at him.

"I don't know what to do with this one", she admitted. Both frustration and shame at her own stupid anger at this one small problem, if you could even call it one, took hold of her.

She decided that, maybe, continuing to vent could help her put order inside her head.

"She has answered perfectly to all the questions, and she, like Miss Xiao-Long and Miss Belladonna, finished earlier than everyone else. But then..."

She bit her lips, suddenly feeling very stupid.

"She did_ that_ to the note sheet and the drawings used for reference, and I even scolded her for it. I thought she had just spent her time coloring like some toddler instead of putting efforts into her answers, but now I see she did both. And I can't understand why".

Maybe she was missing something.

She stopped in her tracks, still looking down.

"It just feels so... alien from how a Huntress should act. Are we sure this girl... This child, will be a great leader, one day?"

But then, Glynda Goodwitch realized that Ozpin had not said a word during the entirety of her rant.

She slowly, carefully, raised her head to look at him.

And what she saw was something she would have never anticipated, in a million years.

The Headmaster of Beacon academy was _weeping_.

She had never seen him like that. He was staring, wide-eyed, at the note sheet Ruby Rose had so carefully filled to the brim with vibrant colors, and he was covering his mouth with his right hand, while silent tears streamed down his face.

Glynda knew things. About him, about the other him. About reincarnation and about the memories he had, of loss, and love, and war. A war about colors.

And she had never intended to probe any further, but in that moment, something inside her clicked, and she understood.

That maybe a child has all the qualities a true Huntsman or Huntress really needs.

Slowly, Ozpin regained his composure. He took off his glasses to wipe away his tears, all without saying a word.

Then, glasses once more on his nose, he opened a drawer, and took a pen from it.

He finally spoke again, with a soft whisper, barely audible to anyone who wasn't Glynda Goodwitch.

"May I grade this one?"

She smiled at him and nodded.

A tear had fallen at the end of the answer sheet, and he put the mark right on it, to cover it.

He wrote "10+1" and added, "Never lose sight of what you hold dear, Ruby". Finally, he signed it all with his name.

That +1 didn't mean anything, technically, on a school level. It was just that.

But then again, those colors were too, just that.


End file.
